Safety attachment for trunks



(No Model.)

s. E. SPARROW. SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR TRUNKS.

No. 475,950. Patented May 3l, 1892A I H Il "fs A A A ur HMIAILMMAAAAAWWMIH AAA 'c @n l Il', 'l

Invenor:

./orney UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SETH E. SPARROV, OF NORVALK, OHIO.

SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR TRUNKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 475,950, dated May 31, 1892. Application filed December 26, `1891. Serial No. 416,140. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern.-

. Be it known that I, SETH E. SPARROW, a citizen of the United States, residing at Nor- Walk, in the county of Huron and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Attachments for Trunks and other Receptacles; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to safety attachments for trunks, chests,packingboxes, and like articles adapted to carry the personal effects of a traveler, merchandise, and samples, and the like; and the object of the invention is to provide means for securing in a trunk, chest, or packing-box used to make shipments by rail or otherwise the articles contained therein from injury incident to their shipment. It frequently occurs that a person starting out upon a brief trip or visit feels compelled to use the trunk he may happen to have, although it be twice as large as he requires for the immediate trip before him, and so he packs his clothing into this trunk and fastens them down as best he can, or most likely puts them in Without any special fastening at all. If the traveler be a lady and she has no means for protecting her apparel from the tumbling about they receive in a loose trunk they Will likely be rendered unt to be Worn in that condition, if they be not permanently injured. Silk dresses and other like ne artt cles require some means for holding them securely in the place they are carefully packed by delicate hands. So, also, it occurs with commercial travelers that they frequently have rare and expensive goods and articles which have to be carried in chests or boxes too large and roomy to permit of safe packing and carriage Without much labor and ex.- cessive extrapacking material. I have therefore devised means to remedy all these and kindred difficulties and objections; and my invention consists in safety attachments constructed, arranged, and operating substantially as shown and described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Figure l is a cross-section of a packingtrunk, taken on a line running centrally through my improved safety device, secured to the sides of the trunk and spanning the trunk from side to side. Fig. 2 is a crosssection of the side pieces as they appear in Fig. l and in use and a plan of the crossv pieces or strips locked in the side pieces. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the side pieces alone, and Fig. 4 a perspective View of one ofthe tying or binding cross-pieces alone. Fig. 5 is a reduced perspective view of what may be termed a false top or cover, which comes beneath the cross-pieces and bears upon the goods to keep them down in packed position.

A represents a trunk, chest, box, or any like receptacle or vessel adapted to carry the apparel or personal effects of a traveler, orto carry merchandise of any kind that ordinarily is boxed or inclosed and packed for shipping. Upon the inside of this receptacle A, and preferably upon the "sides thereof, are secured the angle-iron vertical pieces l5. These pieces are fastened in position, as hereshown, by means of short screws or bolts b, which pass through the side of the receptacle and the piece B and are locked by means of nuts. This, however, is only one of different ways or methods of fastening that may be adopted. For example, the said pieces B might have flanges along their sides or edges Where they bear against the receptacle and be riveted in position. These pieces B may be made of cast or sheet metal and produced by any convenient process, and should have such weight and strength as will enable them to sustain any strain that may come upon them. Vhen in position, they form a chamber b within their sides, adapted to accommodate the head c of the cross-pieces C and have a series of oblong slots or openings b2 on their face adapted to receive said heads. These slots or openings are so constructed that the heads c can be inserted edgewise to the length of the slot, and then when the said pieces C are turned on their sides the shoulders on the heads c will engage on the sides of the slots and be held from drawing out when crosspieces C are locked.

The cross-pieces C have each a longitudinal slot c in their overlapping portion, and a set screw or nut d serves to lock the said pieces firmly together. These slots adapt said pieces to a Wide range of widths in the receptacle, and the said pieces are of such IOO size and strength that they will serve for a trunk or chest of almost any probable size, large or small. The slots b2 in upright pieces B are adapted to receive the said cross-pieces at any elevation between bottom and top of the trunk or receptacle, according to the quantity of goods to be packed.

D represents what may be termed a false cover or top, which is placed on the goods after packing is finished and pressed down as firmly as the goods require, and the crosspieces are then placed in position over it and locked to hold it in place. The shank c2 of the cross-pieces enables them to be turned in slots b2 without removal therefrom, and said pieces are turned on these shanks both in fastening them in position and in removing them from the pieces B.

Two or more of the pieces B may be used on each side of the package, according to its size. In ordinary sizes of trunk two on a side-one near each end-will suffice, though three might be used. v An obvious equivalent of the oblong slots b2 is an opening fashioned like an ordinary keyhole, and still other equivalents might be suggested.

The strips or pieces B might be placed at the ends of the trunk or receptacle as Well as at the sides, and in some receptacles this might be the preferable way.

I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters z Patent, is-

1. The receptacle, separate engaging pieces fixed upon its inside and having a series of openings one above the other, slotted longitudinally-adj ustable cross-pieces constructed to lock in said openings and having a screw to lock said cross-pieces together, and a false cover held down by said cross-pieces, substantially as described.

2. As a new article of manufacture, safety attachments for trunks and like receptacles, consisting of upright pieces constructed to be secured to the inside of a trunk or other receptacle and provided with a series of openings one above the other, and rigid crosspieces overlapping each other at their inner ends and slotted to be rigidly fastened together after adjustment, said crosspieces having heads to engage the openings in the up right pieces, and a screw to fasten them 'together through the slots, substantially as described.

Vitness my hand to the foregoing specilication this 19th day of December, 1891.

SETH E. SPARROW. Vitnesses:

H. T. FISHER, NELLIE L. MGLANE. 

